A Step Back in Time

Last week, Garrett and I had a trip planned to Toronto Island, but when we woke up to dreary weather, it didn't seem like the greatest idea to head out onto the water. After much brainstorming about alternative plans, we decided to head over to the Black Creek Pioneer Village in the north end of Toronto.

Neither of us had been there for years and it seemed like a nice trip back in time and away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

I'm going to warn you all that there are alot of picture in this post. I just couldn't help myself when I saw all the great historic buildings and the beautiful displays. I was in vintage heaven!

One of the first buildings we stopped in was the Town Hall, complete with a little barn off to the side for townspeople to put their horses when they came for meetings.

The interior was pretty cute for the Summer, but I can just imagine how chilly it got in the Winter months.

This is one of my favorite buildings in the village, The Doctor's House, but we'll get to more on that later.

Along the road we came across this sweet little house. Doesn't it just look like the kind of place where fresh bread would be made?

Probably in this stove as well. I have to admit, this gave me a new appreciation for my little gas stovetop.

In a little bedroom off of the kitchen there was a bed with various undergarments laid out. Can you imagine wrestling yourself into those?

At the back of the house was a giant garden, just full of beautiful plants and a big old white pine barn.

This is usually closed off to visitors because they use it as a tool shed now, but we were lucky enough to run into a groundkeeper while walking by and he let us pop in for a look.

I wish that my Zinnias could look like this! So lush and vibrant.

Before long I was dragging Garrett over to the Doctor's House for a peek. I just couldn't resist.

I loved the sweet front porch and the cute little picket fence. I could have sat there all day.

There were several rooms inside the house, but the one that caught our attention the most was the doctor's office. It was full of interesting books and pill bottles.

There was also some super creepy instruments that I don't even want to guess what they were used for.

In the kitchen of the house, there were plenty of herbs drying from hooks and from the ceiling, making it incredibly fragrant.

There was also a long porch along the side looking out over a massive garden. Can't you imagine someone sitting on that bench, working away while they enjoyed the outdoors?

As we got closer into the shops along the main road, we came across a weaver who was busy making rugs.

The looms are still in operation and they made beautiful placemats, rugs and blankets for the gift shop to sell.

Another popular shop is the cooper's workhouse. There were barrels of every shape and size scattered throughout the whole village and they're all made here.

All the printing in the village is also done at this printing shop. We happened to get there in time to watch them print one page. I never realized it was so labour intensive. It used to take a whole day just to put the letters together for one column. No wonder their papers were so small.

This quaint little shop originally sold boots and shoes.

Inside there were various shoe forms and tools for repairing and fixing shoes. It must have taken forever just to make one pair.

This is my other favorite house in the village. It has wide plank flooring and beautiful details throughout.

When you come in the door there is a small parlour with various games set up.

Just beyond that is the owners' study, or as Garrett affectionately called it: The Man Cave.

I preferred this room full of various plates and tureens for serving.

At the back of the house was a beautiful garden with plenty of carrots and onions coming in.

Farther down the road was a Saddle and Harness Maker.

The entire shop was full of harnesses, collars and even Christmas jingle bells. They have several workers there that make leather goods for the gift shop to sell.

I think this was probably one of Garrett's favourite buildings - the Mill

It's a massive structure that is incredibly loud with the wheel turning.

Outside of the mill, they have examples of the stone grinders that were used to grind the wheat into flour. They still have grinders like this running when you come into the building and you can see them in action.

We went down into the lower level of the mill to see the inner workings.

As our day was winding down, we headed along the main strip back towards the front of the village. If we'd had more time, I'd have loved to stay longer.

Along the way we saw many interesting pieces of history, like this Black Creek Syrup Wagon that sold a liquid remedy, like you see in old Westerns.

We also popped into the Restaurant and Brewery for a quick peek around.

I bet those barrels are from the coopers :)

One of the first rooms you see is this authentic bar with various (empty) bottles from the time period.

There are also games set up for kids to try out while they're visiting the village. My family used to play crocono all the time when I was little - we should bring this back!

There was also a massive dining room for guests at the inn. Apparently they use some of these rooms for special events.

At the back of the restaurant was an active kitchen where I happened to catch a woman working.

She was selling little jars of lemonade :)

Off of the kitchen was a pantry that was bigger than my entire Itty Bitty Kitchen!

As cute as the old houses are, I have no desire to sleep in this bedroom. That bed does not look comfortable.

However, I would have loved to work in this old photography studio ;)

Next door, there was also a cute tinsmith shop.

The entire shop was filled with great ideas for how to use simple tin to decorate your old home...in the late 1800s that is.

Off to the side of the building was an old Masonic Lodge, which must have been a nice way for men to get together. This got us talking about what we would do if we were back in pioneer times.

I hoped that I'd have a cute little farm with one of those great houses we saw that day.

I think Garrett would have been a farmer...if it wasn't for all that getting-up-early-in-the-morning-to-milk-cows thing.

Speaking of cows, we got to visit a few at the barn there. It brought back memories of petting them at my great aunt's farm when I was little.

Garrett got right in there and even fed them some hay.

On the way out through the Visitor's Center we looked at some of the precious things they have on display.

This stuffed bird was actually a little music player! A little disturbing, but still cute.

But by far, my favorite piece in the display was this antique doll house. I always wanted one of these growing up and I hope to someday make one for a daughter of my own.

Just look at all those dainty little pieces. They looked so real!

As our lovely little trip back in time came to an end, we stopped into the gift shop to look at all the goods made in the village - like these rag rugs. I'm such a sucker for stuff like this!

We had a lovely trip at Black Creek Pioneer Village and I'm sure we'll be back again in the future - maybe even to catch their Halloween and Christmas celebrations :)